Translating the right to expression into a reality

Once upon a time one needed significant means and resources to
start a newspaper or a radio station; to reach large numbers of
people with a message. The Internet changed this, but up until
quite recently it was still necessary for a person to have
technical knowledge, resources and access to the right technology
in order to, for example, develop a website to share information
and connect with others online.

The explosion of the social web in the last few years has lowered
the barrier to entry exponentially and the mobile phone is
increasingly becoming a one-stop publishing and broadcast tool.
Features such as photo and video cameras allow for the visual
capture of events or happenings, while mobile friendly
applications are making it easy to upload and share opinion
pieces, news and media products to one’s own network or to the
wider public in minutes.

All of this is important to consider in the context of child- and
youth-produced media. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
recognises the importance of engaging children and young people
as active participants in media creation, and it would seem that
with the proliferation of digital tools in the hands of young
people, it is becoming easier for young people to tell their
stories.

While all of this is true – and the changing digital landscape
represents unprecedented opportunity – it does not reveal the
entire picture. If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it,
did it really fall? It is a question you’ve probably heard
before, especially in relation to the internet, and the reality
remains that only a tiny percentage of all the media content that
is uploaded to the Internet is ever seen by more than a handful
of eyes. How strong then is ones message if no one hears it? And
what implications does this have for youth media makers?

Last week I was part of a dialogue with award-winning young
filmmakers representing 10 countries who were in New York for the
PLURAL+ video festival awards ceremony. Organised
by the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), PLURAL+ is a youth-produced
video festival which encourages young people to explore
migration, diversity and social inclusion, and to share their
creative vision with the world.

The dialogue was an opportunity for the filmmakers to come together and to share
thoughts on their experiences of creating their films, and the
challenges facing young media makers. They represent a diversity
of countries and contexts for youth media creation: there’s
8-year-old Lisa from Toulouse, France whose city organizes an
annual children’s film festival in the style of Cannes; Shruti
from India, whose school is integrating ICTs into all fields of
teaching and learning; Francois from Nairobi, Kenya, who has
taken it upon himself to try motivate young people through music
in his impoverished community; and the Manawan indigenous
community youth working with Wapikoni Mobile from Quebec in
Canada.

Access to equipment was a challenge for many. I was so surprised
(but then again perhaps I should not have been) that even the
young people from so-called industrialised countries recounted
difficulty in accessing equipment. Improvisation and creativity
are necessary skills for young filmmakers – the team from
Lebanon, whose film focuses on Syrian refugees in their country –
spoke of having to use books in place of a camera stand. Wapikoni
Mobile seeks to overcome this challenge by taking media
production facilities directly to the indigenous youth they work
with – many of whom live in remote areas.

A lack of support or perhaps rather a not-unkind lack of interest
from schools or even families was something else that came
across. A few of the young filmmakers joked that some of those
close to them did not really understand why they had chosen to
get involved and did not really believe that they had a chance at
winning.

Yet these young people still represent the lucky ones – those
with access to an initiative like PLURAL+ which not only promotes
and recognizes the talent of young filmmakers promoting social
messages, but also supports the distribution of their final
products. And this is of crucial importance if there is genuine
commitment to lifting up and listening to the voices of young
people.

The consensus from the young filmmakers was clear – more needs to
be done to create opportunities for young media makers. But how
can this be achieved? All around the world, as public
broadcasters undergo privatization it seems that mainstream media
is providing limited opportunities for child and youth
media-makers. The internet and social media, as explained earlier
on, are not perfect solutions in and of themselves. In this
context, initiatives such as PLURAL+ and OneMinutesJr. (supported by UNICEF) – vital
platforms for young people’s expression – are need more than
ever.